A River of Birds

From the headwaters of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

More than 325 bird species make the round-trip each year along the Mississippi Flyway, from their breeding grounds in Canada and the northern United States to their wintering grounds along the Gulf of Mexico and in Central and South America.

Many of those birds and their critical habitats were profoundly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill—habitat that will be further eroded by sea-level rise. Audubon knows that only a comprehensive restoration program, and a long-term financial commitment to restoring the Gulf, will keep the flyway hospitable to birds.

We’ve established a Gulf-wide stewardship plan for the full range of coastal waterbirds, and this year Audubon received the first installment of funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to get those restoration projects started.

We protect Whooping Cranes, Least Terns, Prothonotary Warblers, and many other species at both the north and south ends of their migrations. From Minnesota, where we successfully lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency to stay the permit of a sulfide ore mine, to shorebird stewardship projects in Mississippi, we are there for the birds.